topical articles

Mangrove forest covered large swathe of the coastal strip of Mauritius. In 1773 Bernardin de St Pierre, the author of the famous Paul et Virginie novel set in Mauritius, observed mangrove near Poste La Fayette. In Mauritius, mangrove is often translated as ‘manglier’ rather than 'palétuvier' but botanically, manglier is different from coastal mangrove.

An eco-village approach to developmentAn eco-village is seen as a ‘human-scale full-featured settlement in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development, and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future and incorporating multiple centres of initiatives’.

At a time when Mauritius is urbanising rapidly, how far is it practicable to adopt such an eco-village approach to sustainable development?